Saturday, July 3, 2010

Bring on the Sage!

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Sage is one of my absolute favorite spices. I especially love to pair it with turkey. So I'm really excited about tonight's dinner because it not only incorporates sage, but it is essentially all my own! I got the concept of "stuffed turkey burgers" from (where else?) Food Network Magazine, but I decided to personalize the recipe and make it all my own.

As I was scrounging through the fridge for side dish options I found 2 potatoes, apples and half an onion. I chopped them all up, tossed them in some extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and sage - then popped the mixture into the oven (spread evenly over a sheet pan) to roast. It turned out perfectly and I had to hold back from scarfing down the entire dish!

I also wanted to add some veggies to the meal, so I quickly sauteed up some fresh zucchini we recently got from a local produce stand. I cooked the squash for just a few minutes in olive oil, a few tbsp. of water, salt and pepper on the stovetop in a small saute pan...yum! I love summer squash!

And at last...the Stuffed Turkey Burgers. I stuffed them with roasted red peppers and mozzarella cheese. I roasted the pepper myself - just sliced it in half and threw it under the broiler for about 10-15 min. Once it was roasted I put it in a sealed container for 20 minutes until I could easily peel the skin off with my fingers, then I sliced it up and it was ready for the burgers! Check out my easy and deliciously tasty recipe below:

Instructions1. In large mixing bowl combine: turkey, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, sage, bread crumbs and smoked paprika until combined and can easily be formed into patties. *I never really measure my spices, so just eyeball how much you need and try to use equal amounts of each spice with a little more salt than other spices.

2. Divide the meat mixture into 4 equal parts, then divide each of these into 2 evenly-sized patties.

3. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with about 2 tbsp. of the red peppers and top with about a pinch and a half of shredded cheese, then top with the remaining patties, being sure to seal them tightly around the edges. Tahhh Dahhhhh - stuffed patties!

4. Ok, I am somewhat scared of the grill (I've never learned how to use one) so I threw these under the broiler in the oven (500 degrees) at 6 minutes per side. They turned out perfectly cooked. Remember - no one wants a rare turkey burger...just say no to food poisoning!

Instead of thick hamburger rolls, I put the burgers on multi-grain sandwich rounds lightly spread with mayo and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I think next time I might top them with sauteed mushrooms and onions! I know I'm somewhat biased, but holy crap they tasted amazingly good! I can't wait for Aaron to get home and try this food tonight!

2 comments:

The apples really added a fantastic flavor - I would include the onions too in order to avoid it being too sweet, but it could also be good to embrace the sweet and do sweet potatoes with apples too...yum!

Welcome To TastyMess

My name is Emily (Em to my friends) and cooking has become a passion of mine over the past 5 years. I'm excited to share my love of food with you and hope my recipes inspire you to try new ingredients, techniques and fill your kitchen with tasty messes of your own!